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Like children elsewhere, the students at Sandy Hook Elementary went to school on Friday morning with thoughts of winter vacation, holiday plays, presents under the Christmas tree and lighting candles for the final two nights of Hanukkah. Their parents kissed them goodbye, fully expecting to see them Friday evening.

And why not? They were sending their children to school, not to a war zone. Sending them to school in the United States. In 2012.

An unspeakable horror extinguished those thoughts and expectations. Twenty children, all 6 and 7 years old, gone. Six teachers and administrators killed trying to protect their students. Classmates robbed of their innocence. Families shattered. Dreams destroyed.

Even for a society in which the public has largely become inured to mass shootings — six this year prior to Dec. 14 — the massacre in Newtown, Conn., was shocking. There's a national sense of urgency that something needs to be done.

Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman is on the right track in recommending the creation of a high-level commission on the problem of violence.

Studying a problem can be a way to avoid taking action. In this case, the recommendations of a panel of experts who have thoroughly researched the subject offer the best chance of taking meaningful action, as opposed to action that is emotionally gratifying but does little to actually stem the tide of violence.

The current sense of urgency should not be lost. It would be wise, however, to make policy decisions when judgments are sober rather than when emotions are raw.

The problem of mass shootings and the larger problem of violence in American society can't be traced to one source and can't be cured with one prescription. At the very least, they touch on three complex issues:

The availability and accessibility of weapons, including lethal accessories such as extended magazines.

The diagnosis and treatment of mental health issues.

The influence of violence in popular culture, such as movies and video games.

Each issue raises important constitutional questions, and there are no perfect solutions.

But with a multidisciplinary approach, the right policy solutions might be found to slow down the increasing pace of events of mass violence — or at least make it more difficult for a deranged individual to shoot his way into an elementary school and take 26 precious lives.